Food guard apparatuses, also sometimes referred to as food protectors, food shields, sneeze guards, food guards, breath shields, or counter protectors, are required by law to protect or cover open or exposed food in a public establishment with a panel, typically a transparent panel constructed of tempered glass or clear acrylic, so as to intercept the breath from the consumer.
Generally, the food guard apparatuses take one of two basic forms. First, the food guard can be constructed of a single vertical, transparent panel or food shield, which may or may not be connected to an upper shelf. Such design is typically used for stations where food is handed to a consumer by a server. Second, the food guard can be constructed of an angled transparent panel, with or without an upper shelf, as typically used with self-serving stations, salad bars, and buffets.
Such food protectors or food guard apparatuses typically have supporting structures, frames, and/or posts for supporting the food shield. Some such structures can include hollow tubing that is round, square, oval, elliptical, rectangular, slotted, notched or hexagonal shaped. Other such structures can include solid bars or rods having a round, square, oval, elliptical, rectangular or hexagonal shape. Still other such structures can include cable, chain, or wire, either suspended or tensioned to support the food shield. And still other support structures can be constructed of steel, aluminum, or stainless plate material having a substantial thickness of about a half-inch or more.
Additionally, the food guard apparatuses typically have a limited distance in between vertical supports, and thus, the transparent food shield cannot span long distances (such as spanning the length of long counters) without additional supports. Typically, ¼″, ⅜″, or ½″ tempered glass is the shielding material used for the transparent panels of the food guards. The limitation as to how far the tempered glass can span generally is dependent on the thickness of glass. For example, ¼ glass will typically deflect and bend over a 42″ span, whereas ⅜″ glass will typically deflect and bend over a 54″ span. Half inch tempered glass will typically deflect and bend over a 60″ inch span. This deflection or bowing of the glass can generally be alleviated by supporting the glass along its longitudinal plane or by adding center support structures. To support the glass along its longitudinal plane, typically a beam comprising a tubular structure, or a tubular square structure, having a minimum diameter of about 1 ½ inches is used. In some cases, the horizontal beam is 2 or 3 inches in diameter. Thus, the added horizontal beam can create a sort of “framing” around the glass, which can be unsightly and can block the view of the food being protected.
Fabrication of such structures, frames, and/or posts can be time-consuming and expensive. Also, some structures, frames, and posts have a handedness to them such that separate structures, frames and posts are fabricated depending on the position of the structure relative to the shield (i.e., left, right or center structures). Therefore, a need exists in the industry for an apparatus and method which would allow for inexpensive fabrication of structural supports for food guard apparatuses and which would avoid the handedness typically associated with such supports.